Reading Recovery in the News - April 2008

Kay Powell is LCS Crystal Bell Award recipient
Le Mars Daily Sentinel - Le Mars, IA
by Beverly Van Buskirk
April 29, 2008

A Le Mars Community Schools elementary reading teacher has been named the Decades of Excellence Crystal Bell Award recipient for 2008.

Kay Powell, a Title I Reading/Reading Recovery teacher at Franklin and Kissinger Elementary schools was presented with the award Friday morning (April 25) during an assembly at Franklin Elementary School.

The Decades of Excellence Crystal Bell award is co-sponsored by the LCSD Foundation and the LCS Alumni Association, and is presented annually to honor outstanding teachers who have dedicated their careers to the education of children.
 

School board lauds winners of Governor's Award
Packet Online - Princeton, NJ
April 24, 2008
(Online registration required)

Six Hopewell Valley teachers recently were honored by the Hopewell Valley Regional Board of Education. One teacher recognized is Alice Rosso, reading support teacher, Toll Gate Grammar. A long-time nursery school teacher before joining the Valley faculty nearly two decades ago, Ms. Rosso taught kindergarten and second grade at Toll Gate Grammar before becoming the school’s teacher of Reading Recovery and English as a Second Language (ESL) in 1999.
 

Four educators to enter Lebanon City Schools Hall of Fame
Lebanon Western Star - Lebanon, OH
By Ryan Cook
April 24, 2008

Four teachers with a combined 100 years of experience will be honored Wednesday, April 30, as they are inducted into the Lebanon City Schools Hall of Fame.

The teachers being honored this year are John Zimkus, Cathy Howell, Doris Nell and Ellen Donisi. The ceremony begins at 6 p.m. in the Berry Intermediate School auditorium.

Donisi’s personal interest in finding out how kids learn to read led her to the Reading Recovery program, which allowed her to work one-on-one with students, implementing specific lessons for each student, as well as observing other teachers and their methods.

“I learned (that teaching children to read) really is rocket science,” she said. “It was really rewarding and intense.”

Editorial: Cheers
Traverse City Record Eagle - Traverse City, MI
04/21/2008

Cheers! -- To Traverse City Area Public Schools for adopting new strategies to help improve student test scores in both writing and math. The programs include support programs like READ 180, a class for fourth- through 12th-graders, and Reading Recovery, a one-on-one session for first-graders. New math materials used in some elementary classrooms offer additional practice, larger numbers in calculations and parent resources. Officials said textbook publishers are adjusting their books to match the new curriculum.
 

Central Lee School District to drop block scheduling next year
Fort Madison Daily Democrat - Fort Madison, IA
April 17, 2008

In the midst of ongoing financial problems in the Central Lee School District, several initiatives may see increased scrutiny, including Reading Recovery. Reading Recovery…“is an intervention for the lowest performing readers,” said Deanna Smith, first grade teacher at Central Lee K-8. "We use daily statistical data to move students along rapidly.”

In 2002-2003 when Central Lee first began using the Reading Recovery program (though it wasn’t yet fully implemented), only 63 percent of their first graders were proficient in reading compared to the 78 percent the State of Iowa saw as its average. In 2006-2007 Central saw 87.3 percent proficiency, versus the state average of 78 percent.

Reading Recovery helps kids read at grade level — and beyond
Nashville City Paper - Nashville, TN
By Amy Griffith
April 15, 2008

Those who participate in Nashville’s public school Reading Recovery program tend to be passionate.

“We’ve got so much evidence that this works,” said Jill Speering, the district’s Reading Recovery Teacher Leader, based at Cora Howe Elementary School. “It will change the direction of kids’ lives.”

The program — which is currently administered at 13 Metro schools — targets first-graders with the lowest reading scores. The program is small, but of the 114 kids who received one-on-one Reading Recovery tutoring in the last school year, 72 percent went on to pass the district’s reading benchmarks.
 

Lynn Smith Named Top Teacher of the Week
FOX17
Nashville, TN

Reading Recovery Teacher Lynn Smith was named Fox 17 Nashville's Top Teacher of the Week. Lynn is a second year Reading Recovery teacher at John Pittard Elementary. Teachers are nominated by their principal to the Tennessee Department of Education.

Teacher: Reading program pays off
Lebanon Daily News - Lebanon, PA
By Chris Sholly
April 4, 2008

PALMYRA — Reading Recovery programs have been a success in Palmyra schools, teachers told the Palmyra Area School District board of directors last week.

“Reading Recovery does work,” said Elaine Stine, Reading Recovery teacher leader. “No other early reading intervention (program) measured up.”

She said the program helped to improve students’ skills in fluency, comprehension, reading achievement, so they can catch up to appropriate levels in reading for their age group. Students show measurable progress in reading just weeks after starting the Reading Recovery program, she added.
 

Lynette DeGraffenried selected for Leadership Preparation Program
Nebo News - Spanish Fork, UT
By admin
April 2, 2008
 
Lynette DeGraffenried, at Wilson Elementary, has been selected by the Nebo School District Board of Education to be the Nebo participant for the Leadership Preparation Program (LPP) for BYU for the year 2008-2009 school year.

Mrs. DeGraffenried was teacher of the year for Wilson Elementary and Nebo Reading Council Reading Teacher of the year both in 2004. She taught first grade for five years, transitional first grade for one year, Title I for four years and Reading Recovery for five years all at Wilson Elementary.